This invention relates to balers for forming round bales of agricultural crop material, and more particularly to a void-forming arrangement for use in a round baler including a series of side-by-side belts.
Round balers typically include a series of parallel rolls mounted between spaced sides, with a series of side-by-side belts trained about the rolls. The belts extend across a crop inlet defined between a pair of spaced rolls, and a pick-up mechanism feeds crop rearwardly to the crop inlet as the baler is moved along a windrow of crop material. As crop material is forced into the inlet, the belts deform inwardly into a rotating bale-forming chamber which compresses the crop material to form a round bale. The belts are trained about a tensioned take-up mechanism, which accommodates bale growth while maintaining tension on the belts.
In a round baler of this type, it is important that the belts remain in contact with the rolls in order to ensure proper belt tracking and advancement. In the past, it has been known for crop material to adhere to the belts as the belts exit the bale-forming chamber. This material, which is commonly known as "trash" because it is not incorporated into the bale, can build up on the rolls and adjacent the sides of the baler, causing belt driving and tracking problems which hinder the performance of the baler and which, in severe cases, may actually stop operation of the baler.
Viaud U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,746 discloses a staggered roll and belt arrangement for reducing trash buildup. In this arrangement, all belts extend between a pair of vertically spaced rolls. A staggered roll is located forwardly of the lower roll in the vertically spaced pair of rolls, and every other one of the belts is trained about the staggered roll as the belts extend between the vertically spaced pair of rolls. This staggered belt arrangement forms void areas through which crop material is allowed to fall.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved void-forming arrangement for side-by-side belts in a round baler. Another object of the invention is to provide such an arrangement which is simple in its components and construction, and easily adapted for use in conventional round balers. Yet another object of the invention is to provide such an arrangement which maintains all belts in contact with the same number of rolls within the baler.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a round baler includes a series of baler rolls including a pair of spaced rolls defining a crop inlet. A series of side-by-side belts are trained about the series of rolls, and the belts define a bale-forming chamber for receiving crop material from the crop inlet. A belt separating arrangement is located outside the bale-forming chamber for separating adjacent belts. The belt separating arrangement is in the form of a belt-separating member located between a spaced pair of the baler rolls. At least a pair of adjacent belts are engaged with the belt-separating member such that a first belt in the pair of adjacent belts engages the belt-separating member at a first location and a second belt in the pair of adjacent belts engages the belt-separating member at a second location other than the first location. In this manner, at least a portion of the belt-separating member is operable to separate the belts between the pair of spaced baler rolls, to form a space through which trash material can fall. The belt-separating member is preferably in the form of a separating roll located between the spaced pair of baler rolls. The first and second belts in the pair of adjacent belts engage the separating roll at first and second locations, respectively, on the separating roll. In a preferred form, the separating roll is arranged such that the first and second belts are separated at a location spaced vertically above a crop pick-up which feeds crop material into the crop inlet, to allow trash to fall into the incoming stream of crop material for incorporation into a bale.
In one form, the separating roll may include at least a pair of adjacent rotatable roller sections which are rotatable about a common axis of rotation. The first belt engages a first one of the roller sections on one side of the axis of rotation, and the second belt engages a second one of the roller sections on an opposite side of the axis of rotation. The first and second roller sections are preferably rotatably mounted to a shaft which defines the axis of rotation, and are capable of rotating in opposite directions on the shaft due to engagement of the belts with the roller sections on opposite sides of the axis of rotation.
In another form, the separating roll may be in the form of a single rotatable roll, and an auxiliary roll is offset therefrom and rotatable about an axis of rotation substantially parallel to that of the separating roll. The first and second belts in the pair of adjacent belts are each engaged with the auxiliary roll and with the separating roll at first and second locations on the separating roll. The first belt extends from a first one of the pair of spaced baler rolls to a second one of the pair of spaced baler rolls, and is trained first about the separating roll and then about the auxiliary roll therebetween. A second belt in the pair of adjacent belts also extends from the first baler roll to the second baler roll, and is trained first about the auxiliary roll and then about the separating roll therebetween. With this construction, spaces are formed between the adjacent belts in two separate areas, one of which is defined by the first baler roll in combination with the separating roll and the auxiliary roll, and the other of which is defined by the second baler roll in combination with the separating roll and the auxiliary roll. In a preferred form, the auxiliary roll is offset forwardly from the separating roll, such that the spaces between adjacent belts open downwardly to enable crop material to fall into the stream of incoming crop material.
In a preferred form, each pair of adjacent belts are engaged with the belt-separating member, to define a series of spaces throughout the width of the baler for allowing trash material to escape from the path of the belts. In the first form of the invention, the separating roll includes adjacent rotatable roller sections throughout its length, and each belt in a pair of adjacent belts is engaged with its associated roller section on opposite sides of the axis of rotation of the roller sections. In the second form of the invention, every other belt is trained first about the separating roll and then about the auxiliary roll between the pair of spaced baler rolls, and each belt therebetween is trained first about the auxiliary roll and then about the separating roll between the pair of spaced baler rolls.
The invention also contemplates a method of separating side-by-side belts in a round baler, substantially in accordance with the foregoing summary.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.